The Green River and a nearby portion of the Ohio River rose back above flood stage after a series of heavy rainfall events in late March and early April. Showers and thunderstorms were frequent during the first few days of the month ahead of a surface cold front.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.
The Green River and a nearby portion of the Ohio River rose back above flood stage after a series of heavy rainfall events in late March and early April. Showers and thunderstorms were frequent during the first few days of the month ahead of a surface cold front. A warm front brought more rain on the 7th. Rainfall totals averaged one to three inches during the first few days of the month, and another inch or so fell with the warm front.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 6, 1:22 AM CST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 222 AM CDT MON APR 6 2015 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 222 AM CDT MON APR 6 2015 NOT MUCH MOISTURE OR FOCUS FOR LIFT EARLY THIS A.M. THEREFORE VERY WEAK SHOWERS REMAIN LIMITED IN COVERAGE. BROAD SCALE SOUTHERLY FLOW HAS COMMENCED THOUGH THE TRUE WARM FRONT STILL RESIDES ALONG THE GULF COAST INTO EAST TX. WE WILL SEE THIS WARM AIRMASS INTO OUR AREA TUESDAY. MEANWHILE...AN UNSETTLED WSW FLOW ALOFT WILL RESULT IN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS...PERHAPS ISOLATED TSRA TODAY BEST CHANCES SE 1/2 OF THE AREA. POPS RAMP UP LATER TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING WITH A SUBTLE S/WV FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA COINCIDENT WITH A NORTHWARD LIFTING WARM FRONT. IN THE WAKE OF BOTH...WE SHOULD SEE A DOWN TREND IN CONVECTION TUESDAY AFTERNOON AS A DRIER AIRMASS AND CAPPING MOVE IN FROM THE WSW. LATE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY THE MODELS MOVE ANOTHER S/WV ACROSS THE AREA THAT MAY RESULT IN CONVECTION. ANOTHER LULL IN ACTIVITY IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY...FOLLOWED BY YET ANOTHER CHANCE OF CONVECTION WEDNESDAY NIGHT ESPECIALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF ROUTE 13 INTO SW INDIANA. TEMPS A BLEND OF MOS AND EXISTING FORECAST NUMBERS. MODEL PREFERENCE WAS A BLEND OF THE NAM AND GFS. .LONG TERM...(THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 222 AM CDT MON APR 6 2015 THE MAIN SHOW OF THE WEEK WILL ARRIVE LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY NIGHT WHEN A UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MIGRATES EAST NORTHEAST OUT OF THE ROCKIES AND HEADS INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS...AND A CLOSED UPPER LEVEL LOW DEVELOPS OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL PLAINS. THE SFC LOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM MOVES FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS TO THE UPPER MIDWEST. MODELS ARE STILL HAVING SOME TIMING/EXACT PLACEMENT ISSUES WITH THESE FEATURES...BUT NONETHELESS...MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE SENSIBLE WEATHER DETAILS. IT MAY BE RATHER QUIET DURING THE MORNING HOURS ON THURSDAY...DEPENDING HOW MUCH CONVECTION IS LEFT FROM THE INCOMING COMPLEXES OF STORMS FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MOST OF THAT CONVECTION SHOULD BE MAINLY CONFINED TO THE NORTHERN/NORTHEASTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA. BUT WHATEVER IS LEFT...IS LIKELY TO BE DISSIPATING THROUGHOUT THE MORNING HOURS. AS THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST...MODELS DEVELOP CONVECTION TO OUR WEST/SOUTH DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND INTO EVENING/OVERNIGHT. THE GFS HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY FASTER WITH SWINGING THE FRONT THROUGH AND NOW THE ECMWF IS ON BOARD WITH THIS FASTER SOLUTION...ALTHOUGH THE GFS IS STILL A BIT QUICKER. WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID...THERE WILL BE A WINDOW...STARTING LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON LASTING THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...OF STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE STORMS ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. INSTABILITY PARAMETERS LOOK DECENT AS TEMPS WILL BE IN THE 70S AND DEWS IN THE LOWER 60S. WIND FIELDS APPEAR TO BE SUFFICIENT WITH 850 MB WINDS 40 TO 50 KTS...WITH AN INCREASE IN MID/UPPER LEVEL WINDS WITH TIME (CLOSER TO 06Z FRI). THIS WILL HELP BOOST BULK SHEAR/HELICITY NUMBERS INTO A CATEGORY FAVORABLE FOR SOME ORGANIZED STORMS...POSSIBLY A FEW SUPERCELLS POSSIBLE. HOWEVER...A LOT WILL DEPEND ON IF WE CAN GET THE STRONGEST WINDS AT ALL LEVELS TO LINE UP AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME. PLUS THE ECWMF IS NOT AS STRONG WITH THE UPPER SYSTEM...THEREFORE WINDS FIELDS ARE NOT AS GREAT. THERE IS STILL TIME FOR MODELS TO WORK ON THOSE FINER DETAILS...AS THIS EVENT IS STILL 4 DAYS AWAY. A RETURN TO DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO START FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY AFTER THE COLD FRONT SWEEPS THROUGH AND HIGH PRESSURE REGAINS CONTROL. WE COULD BE DEALING WITH YET ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM THOUGH AS EARLY AS SUNDAY HOWEVER. UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL ON THURSDAY WITH TEMPS NEAR 80 DEGREES...BUT READINGS CLOSER TO THE 70 DEGREE MARK BY FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION... ISSUED AT 222 AM CDT MON APR 6 2015 PLENTIFUL UPSTREAM MOISTURE AS SEEN ON SATELLITE/SURFACE OBS WILL STREAM NORTHWARD...LEADING TO A GRADUAL LOWERING OF CIGS. BY LATER THIS MORNING...MVFR CIGS WILL BE EXPANDING ACROSS THE AREA...WITH ASSOCIATED RAIN CHANCES DURING THE PLANNING PERIOD OFFERING MVFR RESTRICTIONS TO VSBYS. SOUTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE GENERALLY 6-12 KTS. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. MO...NONE. IN...NONE. KY...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 455 PM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-062200- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 455 PM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES THROUGH FRIDAY. THE GREATEST CHANCE FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN LOOKS TO BE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding occurred along the Ohio River. Minor flooding affected mainly bottomland fields and low-lying areas.
Moderate flooding occurred along the Green River. At the Paradise river gage, the river crested at 390.61 feet on the 21st. Flood stage is 380 feet. Low-lying fields and woodlands near the river were flooded.
Moderate flooding occurred along the Green River. At the Calhoun river gage, the river crested at 28.02 feet on the 22nd. Flood stage is 23 feet. Thousands of acres were flooded in the Rumsey, Island, and Jewel City areas of Mclean County. Spring planting was not yet underway, so crop losses were negligible. Several county roads were closed. Kentucky Highway 85 near Island was closed, along with West Second Street in Rumsey. A couple of streets in Livermore were closed. A riverfront park in Calhoun was submerged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, April 2015
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 566063, 566065, 566066.